1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of agricultural equipment, and particularly to center pivots.
2. Description of the Related Art
Center pivots are commonly used to irrigate large areas of and that are typically a quarter mile on each side. The center pivot includes a base that is attached to the ground and number of segments attached together that are supported on wheels for allowing them to rotate around the base.
Due to landscape and other considerations, there are situations that require farmers to install center pivots in locations where it is possible that the center pivots will collide. Originally, farmers were required to watch their pivots to prevent collisions. With the advent of global position satellites (GPS), farmers were allowed to use computers to detect collisions. The method commonly employed with GPS is the “box method” where a region that center pivots may collide is described with a bounding box. If both pivot enters the box at the same time then action is taken to prevent the collision. The simplistic box method does not take into account the velocity or directions of the pivots and many times will report a collision and shutdown equipment when unnecessary. Current center pivot collision detection systems do not take velocity into account because center pivots move at a slow rate that cannot be detected with current GPS hardware. When a center pivot is shutdown unnecessarily a farmer incurs expenses in restarting the center pivot and for a loss in the yield of the crop. Therefore, there exists a need for a new and improved method and system for detecting collisions between center pivots.
In the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific exemplary embodiments in which the invention may be practiced.